New Tax Incentives for Conservation of Private Lands

Have you ever thought about conserving the fields, forests, or wetlands on your property? Donating land or a Conservation Restriction to a land conservation organization or agency is one way to do so. Conservation Restrictions leave the ownership of the land in your hands while permanently protecting important natural resources. New federal and Massachusetts income tax credits for the donation of Conservation Restrictions make this an excellent time to investigate conservation options for your property. Please note that the NRWA is not qualified to offer tax advice and landowners must consult with their own accountant or tax attorney. Read more. For more information about land conservation options and tax credits for land conservation, please contact Al Futterman, NRWA Land Programs and Outreach Director, at (978) 448-0299, or email Al Futterman.

3,000+ Acres to Be Protected Through Forest Legacy Project

Southern Monadnock Plateau III map.

The Nashua River Watershed Association and its partners will utilize the USDA Forest Service’s Forest Legacy program to protect over 3,000 acres of forested land in our watershed through the first two phases of a three phase project. The application for the third phase of the project, to protect an additional 2,100 acres, is in a position to receive funding dependent on the final federal budget for fiscal year 2012.

The focus of the Forest Legacy program is to protect forests from conversion to non-forest uses. According to the US Forest Service, the conserved forests in the Nashua River watershed are among the best in the country for providing clean drinking water. View the Water and People: Drinking water supply and forest lands in the Northeast and Midwest United States report.

Undeveloped forests slow the flow of water across the land allowing it to be filtered and purified before reaching water supplies. These forested lands prevent contaminants from reaching our rivers, streams, and wetlands; they provide wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities; and they help to sustain the local working forest economy.

The three phases of this project were collaboratively developed and executed by NRWA, the MA Department of Conservation and Recreation, North County Land Trust, Ashby Land Trust, Ashburnham Conservation Trust, North Quabbin Regional Landscape Partnership, and officials from the involved towns. The funding application for each phase pieced together small priority parcels across town and state lines into large corridors of protected working forests. The Forest Legacy program funds 75% of a project, so each application had to demonstrate the 25% local match. The applications then underwent a competitive review process at both the state and federal level, with only the top ranked projects receiving funding. Once federal funding is received, local partners proceed with the protection of each individual parcel through vehicles like Conservation Restrictions.

Photo by Kim King.

Phase I of the project requested and received $2.6 million and protected 1,162 acres in Ashburnham, Ashby, Fitchburg, and Westminster. The work to protect the final parcel in this phase was completed in October 2010. Approximately 2,000 acres in Ashburnham, Ashby, Fitchburg, and New Ipswich, NH will be protected by Phase II, which requested and received $3.3 million. The final application, Phase III, asks for $5 million to protect 2,233 acres in Ashburnham, Ashby, Gardner, Westminster, Winchendon, and Mason, NH.

For more information about NRWA's work with the Forest Legacy program, please contact Al Futterman, NRWA Land Programs and Outreach Director, at the NRWA at (978) 448-0299, or email Al Futterman.

NRWA Works Toward Increasing Recreational Opportunities in Fitchburg

The City of Fitchburg has always been a focal point for the work of the NRWA, even in the earliest days of the clean-up when the river was colored by discharges from Fitchburg's mills. Over the years, the NRWA has had multiple sites that it tests for water quality; it has worked with the City, the Fitchburg Greenway Committee, and North County Land Trust on land protection projects; and the Association has offered environmental education programs in many of the City's schools. The goals have always been the same-- to protect Fitchburg's natural resources for now and for the future.

Youth from the Cleghorn Neighborhood Center assisted with a clean-up along the banks of the river.

An added benefit of this work is that a clean river offers potential for recreation in this urban setting. To learn about recreation in Fitchburg. This year, through a grant from the Massachusetts Environmental Trust (MET), the NRWA has been working with the City, the Fitchburg Greenway Committee, the Cleghorn Neighborhood Center, and others to improve water quality in the North Nashua River by working with city officials to seek out sources of bacteria, engaging the youth from the Environmental Justice community located adjacent to the river in activities aimed at improving water quality, and engaging Fitchburg High School students in educational outreach to the community about the storm drainage system in the city. A strengthened NRWA monitoring program for the North Nashua River and its tributaries in Fitchburg will help to ensure continued progress toward a cleaner North Nashua River, with recreational opportunities. To read more about this project.